


Five Minutes

by Rìgh_Marbh (Righ_Marbh)



Series: Pride of the Summer [6]
Category: Frey & McGray Series - Oscar de Muriel
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 16:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20138332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Righ_Marbh/pseuds/R%C3%ACgh_Marbh
Summary: Elgie had been planning on coming to Edinburgh to kick his useless brother in the shins from the moment he first heard Ian was working with McGray. He just hadn’t planned on making this kind of entrance.





	Five Minutes

Showing up on McGray’s doorstep had been his only choice. His phone was out of battery, he had no idea what room Ian was in and there was no way in hell they were gong to let him into the Balmoral looking like this.

Hell, getting onto the bus had been hard enough.

It’s three o’clock in the morning and it’s taken him an hour of wandering the streets of Edinburgh in the middle of winter to remember where Moray Place is because it’s not like he can ask any old passer-by for directions with a burst nose and a split lip and what feels like a very colourful black eye coming up but eventually he finds himself on the right doorstep, trying his best to look apologetic as McGray, who looks like shit himself, stares down at him.

“I really didn’t know where else to go, I’m sorry but…”

And it’s a mark of the kind of person McGray _actually_ is, whatever Ian says, that Elgie doesn’t have to explain further because he just seems to know.

“Jist get in here afore ye collapse.”

Before the explanation falls out of him anyway, he’s steered into what might be a library, and deposited onto a worn old settee. Now that the desperate flight from London is over, he can feel his injuries creeping up on him as the adrenaline leaves his system and by the time McGray is pressing a glass of whisky into his hands, he’s beginning to shake.

“Wis it yer father?”

How McGray knows, just by looking at him, Elgie can’t rightly tell.

“My brother, Laurence…he saw me getting lunch with one of the girls in the orchestra except, well, well she’s more butch than I could ever dream of being and hejust _assumed_ and I probably didn’t help things either by laughing at him but…”

It all came out in a rush and when when he tried to take a deep breath, the pain in his ribs flared and white spots danced in front of his eyes.

“Careful, lad. Dis Frey ken yer here?”

“No…I haven’t had a chance to charge my phone and I couldn’t very well go looking for him like this.”

“Alright…we’ll clean ye up and I’ll call him. Drink that…all ae it.”

Elgie might have frowned bu it hurt his nose too much.

“Why?”

“‘Cause I’ll need ye tae sit still whilst I put yer nose back in and yer still shaking like a leaf.”

*

The upside to the whole thing (two, if he believes McGray when he said his squint nose will make him look more roguish, which he doesn’t) is that he learns very quickly that things are far more complicated here than Ian led him to believe.

He’s half asleep on the settee when McGray slips out of the room to call Ian but he can still hear half of the conversation.

“Frey, will ye stop whining fir five minutes…it’s yer brother…aye, he’s here, looking like he’s been dragged tae hell an back an’ all…’course I will…aye…right, I’ll see ye soon.”

By the time Ian arrives, Elgie is fighting the warmth of the room and the liberal quantities of whisky he’s had to pay some kind of attention to the conversation in the hallway because he didn’t fight tooth and nail to see his brother happy, only to accept the cock-and-bull story about them _going their separate ways_.

“Is he alright?”

Ian sounds more frantic that he should be but, then again, he’s probably still half asleep himself.

“He’s fine, Frey, calm down.”

The door creaks open a little further and Ian sighs in relief.

“Thank you, Nine-Nails…”

Elgie nearly starts at the nickname Ian has always vehemently protested. Perhaps things were worse than he thought.

“Whit? Did ye think I’d leave him out there? Christ, Frey…whit d’ye take me fir?”

There’s hurt underneath his words and Ian’s deep sigh is one Elgie hasn’t heard since he first returned from Edinburgh three years ago, refusing to talk about whatever happened to send him running back to London.

“I’m sorry.”

Ian takes a shuddering breath and the creak of the floorboards suggests that someone has moved and McGray’s next words are muffled slightly.

“It’s alright. Look…he needs tae sleep and you look shattered an all. Stay here fir the rest ae the night and we’ll work it out in the morning.”

Their voices disappear and Elgie is only slightly aware of footsteps and something heavy and warm being draped over his shoulders before sleep finally takes him.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, can I just be clear - in any universe and on any day, I would die for Elgie Frey. I have So Many Headcanons it’s getting ridiculous and honestly these little ficlets are never going to do the lad justice.


End file.
